UK Pet Blogger

UK Pet Owners Spend Over £11 Billion Pampering Their Pooches

It is an age old adage amongst cat and dog owners that as time goes they begin look like their pets. As part of National Pet month, Asda Pet Insurance conducted research1 to separate fact from fiction, uncovering what occupation, age, gender and city really says about one’s choice in pet and how they treat it.

As a nation we love to pamper our pets. Asda found that British dog and cat owners spend an average of £495 a year on activities and gifts for their pets. Over the past 12 months this totals to approximately £11.6 billion. While the single biggest spend is on trips to the vet (£150 per year), other significant expenditures include special diets (£58 per year), grooming treatments (£43 per year) and even holidays (£41 per year). Pet owners in London spend the most on average each year by far (£1,284) while those in Wales forked out the least out of all the UK cities (£292).

According to the study, IT professionals were found to splash on average £1,752 a year to look after their cats and dogs, over three times the national average. In contrast, those working in retail and healthcare are the most frugal with their pampering, spending just £338 and £356 a year respectively.

Occupation was also revealed to be a pivotal differentiating factor when it comes to choice in breed, especially amongst dogs. It is not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see how the same behavioural and personality traits that guide our career choices may also influence the type of dog we pick to be our pet. Asda found that healthcare professionals are most likely to favour Spaniels over other breeds of dog. Spaniels as a breed are notorious for being incredibly caring often suffering separation anxiety when their owner is not present. Those working in education meanwhile were most likely to own Retrievers, a highly intelligent, well-mannered breed known for being brilliant with children. Finally, manufacturing and construction workers were most likely to be owners of Terriers. Terriers of course are known to be very physical, athletic dogs that crave the outdoors and love digging.

Alistair Ball, Head of Insurance, Asda Money comments: “Our research shows that we are a nation of pet lovers and when it comes to taking care of them we are willing to go above and beyond, showing just how important our furry friends are. At Asda Money, we want pet owners feel safe in the knowledge that they are protected at all times.”

Asda offers a great range of Pet Insurance from Accident only to Lifetime where customers can claim up to £7,500 per year, every year of their policy rather than only being able to claim once per condition. The policy covers overseas travel up to 12 months and all policies include a 24 hour free-phone vet helpline.

1 Based on Research of 2,004 nationally representative UK adults (aged 18+) conducted by Opinium Research for Asda from 7th to 10th April 2017